# So, I was having brunch with Olivia de Havilland in Paris last week . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 28, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353 "2012-05-28T16:33:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/1 "2012-05-28T16:33:15Z")
. . . and if you don’t think I am going to casually work \*that \*into _every conversation_, including at the dry cleaner’s and the deli . . . I was staying in Montmartre with friends last week, and on Thursday Olivia de Havilland invited me over for demi-tasse and \*macarons \*at her home on the rue Benouville, a residential district (no shops, my dear). Livvy was charming and funny and gracious, and looks _lovely_: same voice, same smile, perfectly coiffed white hair, flawless complexion (she is 95!). She was wearing a white silk blouse, black skirt, big pearl necklace and earrings. She was eager to hear about my John Gilbert book—or at last she feigned interest, which is the definition of graciousness. She had some wonderful stories: though, sadly, she gave up on her memoirs, as her eyes cannot stand computer-screen glare anymore. I warned her that if she doesn’t write her own book, others will write horrible lies about her, and she said “they already _have_—have you read that \*dreadful \*Charles Higham?” I’ll bet his recent death tickled her. I mentioned the hilarious _Captain Blood_ publicity photo of her I’d sent her years ago, in a sexy girl pirate outfit, and she laughed, “well, you had to do whatever they told you when you were starting off! Once they had me pose with an alligator—you know, ‘eccentric starlet Olivia de Havilland has a pet alligator.’ They told me to pat it on the nose and warned me, ‘don’t worry about its mouth, but look out for the tail—that’s what they use to sweep you into their mouth.’” The subject of Edward Everett Horton came up (I mean, doesn’t it always?) and she told us how she was staying at the Zanucks’ [I am mentally fainting about now] and Edward Everett Horton was so sweet and funny and charming, he would bring everyone breakfast in bed, pretending he was a valet. I had only planned to stay 15 minutes—that’s what one should do when “paying calls”—but I was there for 45, and I finally said, “well, I do not want to overstay my welcome,” and her “girl” Megan showed me out. I waited till I got half a block away before jumping up and down and squealing “_omigod I just had lunch with Olivia de Havilland!_” Oh, yeah, the rest of Paris was nice, too. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/2 "2012-05-28T16:40:14Z")
Wow, I am so happy for you,\*\* Eve\*\*! More details please, and a link to the sexy girl pirate picture! ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/3 "2012-05-28T16:45:20Z")
Very Cool! She is a great actress. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/4 "2012-05-28T16:49:50Z")
That is very, very, cool! ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/5 "2012-05-28T17:36:56Z")
You continue to be the most amazing person on the 'dope, Eve! ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/6 "2012-05-28T17:58:07Z")
Eve, what a fantastic experience! I’m glad it happened to you. I wouldn’t know what to say to her face myself. She has always been one of my favorite heroine actresses. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/7 "2012-05-28T17:58:52Z")
Wow. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/8 "2012-05-28T18:00:11Z")
So, there I was, posting in a thread started by **Eve** about her having brunch with Olivia de Havilland in Paris last week … By the third time I mention this, I’m going to work up to how delicious the macarons were. How seriously cool for you, **Eve**! ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/9 "2012-05-28T18:08:19Z")
Eve wins the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/10 "2012-05-28T18:14:38Z")
\ My first thought when reading that Ms. DeHaviland can’t tolerate the computer screen was that she needs a scribe. And since Eve is an authoress…well…sounds like some amazing stories might disappear forever if someone doesn’t get them on paper. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/11 "2012-05-28T18:50:11Z")
10 Achievement points for you, **Eve**! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/12 "2012-05-28T18:55:57Z")
I hope you weren’t wearing your “Team Fontaine” shirt. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/13 "2012-05-28T18:57:08Z")
I really can only remember half of what she said, as my brain was shorting-out with “_I am sitting on a sofa three inches from Olivia de Havilland!_” I did tell her _The Heiress_ was my favorite of her movies, and she said, “Oh, I’m so glad, it’s mine, too,” and she told me of her daughter in Malibu and how happy she was that she’d remarried after being widowed (the daughter, I mean). I’ve met lots of celebs before, but that was business: I was interviewing them, taking notes, we both had our jobs to do. But this was sitting and chatting like girlfriends! Perhaps after I left she said, “well, thank goodness \*that’s \*over, I thought she would never shut up and leave,” but I prefer to imagine her telling her assistant, “what a charming and amusing young lady! She reminds me of Ina Claire.” ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/14 "2012-05-28T18:59:31Z")
You realize, you’ll _never_ have brunch with Joan Fontaine now that you’ve posted this, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/15 "2012-05-28T19:02:50Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I hope you weren’t wearing your “Team Fontaine” shirt. I did think about bringing her the head of Joan Fontaine on a silver platter, but those things are \*so \*hard to get through Customs. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/16 "2012-05-28T19:44:34Z")
Sorry to say, but she’s on my List for next year. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/17 "2012-05-28T19:49:57Z")
Wow, what a great story - thanks for sharing it with us. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/18 "2012-05-28T19:50:04Z")
That’s so cool. But _Captain Blood_? Isn’t that the one where she dove nude from the ship into the sea? ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/19 "2012-05-28T20:16:00Z")
**Eve** , you have the most amazing life! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/20 "2012-05-28T20:38:05Z")
I’m giddy reading that you got to do this. I cannot even imagine how you must feel 'cause it’s, you know, …you and all. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353.md?page=2)